THE WEEKEND
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SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
R flection Continued from pg. 12
Battle of Ore. Consider Olusegun Obasanjo in the battle for Owerri. Consider Murtala Mohammed in the liberation of Benin City. Consider Zhukov at the siege of Leningrad and his courageous exploits at the battle of Moscow. Consider Bernard Montgomery, with his fearless ”Desert Rats”, at the battle of Alamein, Charles De Gaulle at the siege of Paris and Chiang KaiShek in the war against Japan. Consider Attila the Hun, Ghengis Khan, Peter the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Salahudeen the Compassionate, Katsumoto the Samurai, Hannibal of Carthage and Hector of Troy. Consider our gallant amazons and female warriors of old- Boudica of East Anglia, Joan D’Arc of France, Elizabeth 1 of England, Amina of Zaria, Moremi of Ife, Golda Meir of the State Of Israel, Margret Thatcher of Great Britain, Indira Ghandi of India, Queen Idia of Benin, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Queen Esther of the Medes and Persians, Cleopatra of the Blue Nile and Egypt and Yaa Asantewaa of the Ashanti Kingdom. Consider Generals Foche and Hague at the battle of the Somme. Consider George Armstrong Custer at the battle of the Little Big Horn, the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo and
. . . The Spirit Of The Warrior
Napolean Bonaparte, in his full glory and power, at the battle of Marengo. Consider Aragorn of Gondor, who won the battle for Middle Earth and who broke the power of the ring. Consider Cyrus of Persia, whose compassion knew no bounds and who allowed Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Consider Lancelot of the Round Table, the most handsome and courageous of all King Arthur’s knights, who was unbeatable in battle and who captured the heart of the queen. Consider Aslan, the
great Lion of Narnia, whose roar filled the land, whose power drove away the winter and who crushed the white witch in battle. Consider Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North and General of the Felix Legions, who fought with strength and honour, who slew the wicked Emperor and who delivered the City of Rome. Consider Uthman Dan Fodio who spread his faith with zeal and valour and who built a formidable empire. Consider Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the exploits of his
”all black” 54th Massachusetts regiment at the battle for Fort Wagner. Consider General Mohammadu Buhari at the war in Chad when he drove the enemy from our borders and almost took the City of Ndjamena. Consider Brigadier Halilu Akilu who crushed the Maitatsine and who saved the ancient City of Kano. Consider General Fajuyi who laid down his life for his brother. Consider Colonel Isa Mohammed who secured our eastern borders and who threw the Camerounians out of the Bakassi Peninsular. Had these great men
“They lived and died for the sake of others and asked for only one thing in return: that their names should live forever and that we should never forget their noble deeds and their worthy sacrifices. And we must not forget, nay we dare not forget, for as Martin Luther King once said “if a man is not ready to die for something, then he is not worthy of living for anything”. The warrior is prepared to die for his cause. That is what makes him so noble and that is why he will always have a special place in our hearts.”
and women all not stood their ground and had they all not played their role in our collective history, where would the world be today? They sacrificed their today so that we may have our tomorrow. They lived and died for the sake of others and asked for only one thing in return: that their names should live forever and that we should never forget their noble deeds and their worthy sacrifices. And we must not forget, nay we dare not forget, for as Martin Luther King once said “if a man is not ready to die for something, then he is not worthy of living for anything”. The warrior is prepared to die for his cause. That is what makes him so noble and that is why he will always have a special place in our hearts. May the spirit of the warrior and selfless courage fill us all and, like the true warriors that we are meant to be, when the angel of death comes may the Lord give us the strength and boldness to look at him
fearlessly in the face and treat him with the contempt and disdain that he deservesknowing that he has lost his sting and that, by the power of Christ Jesus, he has been conquered and crushed. When the dark angel comes, as come he must for us all, let us be men and let us die a good death, not cringing and crying like puppies, but like true warriors, fighting to the bitter end. For it is never for the warrior to ask the why: it is only for the warrior to do or die. The warrior does not vanish into the night. The warrior will not go down without a fight. Permit me to end this contribution with the following counsel. Courage is the greatest of all the virtues and it is the best defence. Regardless of whatever challenges we may face today, like the warrior, we must show courage. We must stay the course, steel our hearts, fortify our faith, shed our fears and march on in the strength and power of the Lord. We must stand firm, refuse to bow, refuse to flinch and we must defy the enemy. We must stand and we must fight. We must ensure that the good in our land prevails over the evil and that the light overcomes the darkness. That is our hope and that is the challenge before every self-respecting Nigerian today- to scale the obstacles in our land and to bring hope to the hopeless, the vulnerable, the weak, the poor, the deprived and the less privilaged. That is what warriors are meant to do and my prayer is that the Lord grants each and every one of us the presence of mind and the fortitude to do it. May God bless and defend our nation.